Difference between revisions of "MacGarvie, McKeon and Watson (2018)"
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|Title=It was Fifty Years Ago Today: Recording Copyright Term and the Supply of Music | |Title=It was Fifty Years Ago Today: Recording Copyright Term and the Supply of Music | ||
|Year=2018 | |Year=2018 | ||
− | |Full Citation=MacGarvie, M., McKeon | + | |Full Citation=MacGarvie, M., McKeon & Watson, J. (2018). It was fifty years ago today: Recording copyright term and the supply of music. NBER conference on the Economics of Digitization. |
|Abstract=This paper examines the effect of the expiry of recording copyright on the supply of music – in the form of re-releases, availability in streaming platforms, and concert performances – by artists popular in the UK in the 1960s. The term of recording copyright in the UK was extended from 50 to 70 years in 2013, implying that copyrights on recordings made in the late fifties and early sixties are no longer in force, while tracks recorded a few years later remain under copyright protection. In a sample of 13,238 tracks by 140 artists first released between 1928 and 1975, we find that the expiry of recording copyright leads to an approximately 141-247% increase in the number of re-releases, holding constant artist, age and year fixed effects. The effect is not significantly different for the most popular artists in our sample, and is not apparent in placebo regressions on a sample of US re-releases. Results on availability on the Spotify streaming music platform tell a different story: there is no significant effect of copyright expiry on the availability of tracks recorded before 1963. However, when a track’s original recording copyright expires, it becomes less likely to be performed in concert. These results point towards substantial heterogeneity in the effects of copyright on availability of cultural products across different distribution channels, and raise the question of whether the digital platform distribution model may moderate the negative effects of long copyright terms on availability. | |Abstract=This paper examines the effect of the expiry of recording copyright on the supply of music – in the form of re-releases, availability in streaming platforms, and concert performances – by artists popular in the UK in the 1960s. The term of recording copyright in the UK was extended from 50 to 70 years in 2013, implying that copyrights on recordings made in the late fifties and early sixties are no longer in force, while tracks recorded a few years later remain under copyright protection. In a sample of 13,238 tracks by 140 artists first released between 1928 and 1975, we find that the expiry of recording copyright leads to an approximately 141-247% increase in the number of re-releases, holding constant artist, age and year fixed effects. The effect is not significantly different for the most popular artists in our sample, and is not apparent in placebo regressions on a sample of US re-releases. Results on availability on the Spotify streaming music platform tell a different story: there is no significant effect of copyright expiry on the availability of tracks recorded before 1963. However, when a track’s original recording copyright expires, it becomes less likely to be performed in concert. These results point towards substantial heterogeneity in the effects of copyright on availability of cultural products across different distribution channels, and raise the question of whether the digital platform distribution model may moderate the negative effects of long copyright terms on availability. | ||
+ | |Authentic Link=http://jwatson.me/MMW.pdf | ||
+ | |Link=http://jwatson.me/MMW.pdf | ||
+ | |Reference=Brooks (2005);Heald (2008);Kretschmer and Peuckert (2017) | ||
+ | |FundamentalIssue=2. Relationship between creative process and protection - what motivates creators (e.g. attribution; control; remuneration; time allocation)?,3. Harmony of interest assumption between authors and publishers (creators and producers/investors),4. Effects of protection on industry structure (e.g. oligopolies; competition; economics of superstars; business models; technology adoption) | ||
+ | |EvidenceBasedPolicy=E. Fair remuneration (levies; copyright contracts) | ||
+ | |Discipline=O34: Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital | ||
|Cross-country=No | |Cross-country=No | ||
|Comparative=No | |Comparative=No |
Revision as of 11:22, 25 September 2020
Contents
Source Details
MacGarvie, McKeon and Watson (2018) | |
Title: | It was Fifty Years Ago Today: Recording Copyright Term and the Supply of Music |
Author(s): | MacGarvie, M., McKeon, J., Watson, J. |
Year: | 2018 |
Citation: | MacGarvie, M., McKeon & Watson, J. (2018). It was fifty years ago today: Recording copyright term and the supply of music. NBER conference on the Economics of Digitization. |
Link(s): | Definitive , Open Access |
Key Related Studies: | |
Discipline: | |
Linked by: | Garcia, Hicks and McCrary (2020) |
About the Data | |
Data Description: | |
Data Type: | |
Secondary Data Sources: | |
Data Collection Methods: | |
Data Analysis Methods: | |
Industry(ies): | |
Country(ies): | |
Cross Country Study?: | No |
Comparative Study?: | No |
Literature review?: | No |
Government or policy study?: | No |
Time Period(s) of Collection: | |
Funder(s): |
Abstract
This paper examines the effect of the expiry of recording copyright on the supply of music – in the form of re-releases, availability in streaming platforms, and concert performances – by artists popular in the UK in the 1960s. The term of recording copyright in the UK was extended from 50 to 70 years in 2013, implying that copyrights on recordings made in the late fifties and early sixties are no longer in force, while tracks recorded a few years later remain under copyright protection. In a sample of 13,238 tracks by 140 artists first released between 1928 and 1975, we find that the expiry of recording copyright leads to an approximately 141-247% increase in the number of re-releases, holding constant artist, age and year fixed effects. The effect is not significantly different for the most popular artists in our sample, and is not apparent in placebo regressions on a sample of US re-releases. Results on availability on the Spotify streaming music platform tell a different story: there is no significant effect of copyright expiry on the availability of tracks recorded before 1963. However, when a track’s original recording copyright expires, it becomes less likely to be performed in concert. These results point towards substantial heterogeneity in the effects of copyright on availability of cultural products across different distribution channels, and raise the question of whether the digital platform distribution model may moderate the negative effects of long copyright terms on availability.
Main Results of the Study
Policy Implications as Stated By Author
Coverage of Study
Datasets
{{{Dataset}}}